News Feature

Deer Isle’s town budget is nearly a match for last year’s budget, with a 1.4 percent or a $16,023 increase. These figures are tallied according to the warrant articles for 2013 and for the warrant articles for 2012. A line-item budget was not made available to Penobscot Bay Press as of press time.

Last year’s budget totaled $1,095,717; the proposed budget for this year is $1,111,740 if all articles pass as recommended.

Of the $1,111,740 budget, $327,600 is recommended to be used from excise monies and $148,400 from surplus, with some additional money from a state block grant. The amount to be raised by taxes is $557,725, up from $524,041 for 2012.

The only major increase is $15,000 in a warrant article for administrative costs, which First Selectman Neville Hardy said was likely due to the cost of hiring Judy Dunham as help for the treasurer’s office.

Chase Emerson Memorial Library upped its request from $5,000 to $6,000 for the coming year. Island Early Care and Education Center (Head Start) will be funded at $800 instead of $2200, which Hardy said is the amount requested by the organization.

Unlike last year, when townspeople were asked to accept a parcel of land for town ownership and public use, the warrant articles are limited to regular town business and budget.

The final warrant article asks whether the townspeople will approve $13,500 in funds for the Clam Committee to “protect the resource, and to ensure our children have access to shellfish in years to come.”